Crean’s Dasani bottle, an explanation

If you’ve ever seen the Dasani water bottle Tom Crean has on the sideline during games, you’ve noticed that the liquid in it is not the color of water.

It’s orange.

A caller on Crean’s radio show asked him about it on Monday night, and Crean confirmed that he is, in fact, putting another product in a Dasani bottle.

“I don’t drink, so it’s not Jack Daniels,” Crean said. “It’s actually a product called ‘Liftoff.’ It’s got an energy part to it. There’s no sugar in it. I’ve been drinking it the last couple of years, sometimes during the day but usually during the games. No offense to Coke, I love Coke products, (it should be noted here that Indiana has a deal with Coke) but I try to stay off those things during the games because I’d go through about eight Diet Cokes and I don’t want to do that.”

So just in case you were wondering how any man could have that much energy, well, he does have some help.

Other notes from Crean’s radio show:

Crean continues to play it close to the vest regarding sophomore swingman Will Sheehey’s injured left ankle. He’s already missed the last three games, using crutches for the Dec. 22 game against UMBC, staying in Bloomington for the Dec. 28 game at Michigan State and wearing a walking boot for the Ohio State game on Dec. 31. Crean says that Sheehey is making progress, however and that his status for Thursday’s game against Michigan is still unknown.

“His attitude’s great,” Crean said. “He’s rehabbing. There’s no question that he’s getting better. What that means right now for the next game is up in the air. But he’s doing everything that he’s been asked to do, and we miss having him out there, there’s no question about that.”

— Crean was asked about a comment by a TV commentator during a recent game saying that senior guard Daniel Moore had been kicked out of a practice for not being intense enough, which obviously sounds strange considering Moore’s style of play. Crean gave a somewhat incomplete explanation.

“Well, did he get thrown out of practice? No,” Crean said. “What happened there, we had a workout before, and he practiced with us that day. We did an early workout before practice started and one of the TV announcers was in there, probably, and that’s probably one of those things they shouldn’t be talking about. But he was back for practice and he played. If it was a big deal, we would’ve addressed it. But it really wasn’t that big of a deal. What goes on in practice and those kinds of things usually remain private, but in that situation, he was back when we practiced. Every once in a while guys need to understand what you’re trying to get accomplished. It wasn’t the first time for a guy and it won’t be the last time.”

— Crean was asked about junior guard Maurice Creek and the hope for him to get additional eligibility because of the injuries that cost him half of each of the last two seasons and all of this season.

Crean’s answer suggested either that he will push for Creek to not only have a fifth year of eligibility but a sixth. Creek is sitting out this season with a torn Achilles tendon. Creek hasn’t taken a redshirt yet and hasn’t played at all this season, so he could use this as a redshirt and get a fifth year whether he was injured or not.

Crean will apparently hope that that the NCAA will make an exception to the rules to grant Creek a sixth year of eligibility because of his knee injuries in his first two seasons. According to NCAA rules, a player can petition for a medical redshirt if he plays less than 20 percent of his team’s games in a given season, and that was not the case for Creek. He played in 12 of the Hoosiers’ 31 games in 2009-10 and 18 of their 32 games 2010-11.

“We’re very hopeful that he would get extra time here without a doubt,” Crean said. “That’s definitely something that is in process. There’s no question we would fully expect that we would get that. I don’t know how any one would deny him with having three major surgeries in under 22 months. We’re very hopeful on that.”

I mean, if you see it, it happened, and you can report it, but you have to understand a few things first. No. 1, things happen in practice. Guys push and shove. Guys get yelled at. Guys get kicked out of practice. Coaches curse and say inappropriate things. Sometimes that’s newsworthy, but most times it isn’t. When you’re a beat writer who gets to go to practice (of the same team) every day, you eventually learn to tell the difference. All the same, if you’re in a situation (as I was at JMU) that you can talk to the coach after every practice, you just ask about the disciplinary actions and what goes on. is the guy I saw get kicked out of practice suspended or were you just trying to get his head straight? Are those two guys who were fighting enemies and are they causing a problem with the team, or is that just some heat of the moment stuff? The coach needs to understand that you’re going to report the story and that’s the risk with opening practice, but if you report and distort every incident without talking to the principles for perspective, practice is going to be closed.
A big part of the reason he was concerned about the Moore thing getting leaked, of course, is that TV commentators (not TV reporters, but the guys who work the games) usually don’t report that info. I’m surprised Crean didn’t go to him before hand and tell him it wasn’t a big deal, but I’m also surprised the commentator didn’t ask him if it was a big deal or not. Then again, I also don’t know the context of what was said on the air.